Arsene Wenger has confirmed Alex Iwobi is set to be fined after He was pictured partying 48 hours before Arsenal’s FA Cup third-round defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Iwobi was filmed dancing at a house party in Soho at 2.37am on Saturday morning, just a day before playing the full 90 minutes of Sunday’s 4-2 defeat at the City Ground.
Wenger will demand an explanation from Iwobi at the club’s London Colney training base on Tuesday with the 21-year-old facing a fine of up to two weeks’ wages. He currently earns around £30,000-a-week.
“If that is true, he will be fined,” said Wenger this morning. “It is impossible to go out 48 hours before a game. It’s unacceptable. I will have to of course see him to see if that is right or not.
“First of all you have to be cautious with the news coming out, when you read what is reported it is like he has taken drugs. I do not think… he is not involved in that at all, he has been out at a birthday party. How long has he stayed? That is important. After, I will decide what happens.”
Asked whether he was confident Iwobi had not consumed alcohol or taken part in any drug-related activity amid the report claiming other party-goers smoked cannabis and inhaled laughing gas, Wenger told Standard Sport: “Not at all. If your neighbour takes drugs, what can you do about it? You are responsible for your behaviour, not for the behaviour of your neighbour.
“How did it affect his performance? Who knows that? You must have played football, you know that sometimes you want to prepare 100 per cent but sometimes it is not a guarantee that you will be at your best. But that is what is requested from a top-level professional.”
Iwobi is not expected to be considered for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final, first-leg clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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